"How To Make Fabulous Hanging Baskets" (A Tutorial):

While at a local garden shop, it was noted that hanging moss baskets were going for over $65!  That prompted us to do this tutorial as our mother Babs taught us how to make these fabulous hanging baskets years ago...and you can make them for around $10 a piece!  How fantastic is that?  They liven up a dreary patio and they make really special gifts (think:  Mother's Day).  If you are going to host an outdoor shower but are a little troubled by your landscaping, you can perk up a yard with some of these baskets, hung from trees, arbors, patio awnings, etc.  Also a great thing:  these baskets don't take a great green thumb to assemble or keep alive!

Here's what you'll need:

• wire baskets (found at an garden center OR at Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc...)
  
• bags of sheet moss (figure around one bag per basket, although, if you're making a bunch of baskets, grab a bag or two extra of the sheet moss---it's the key to being successful when making these!)
  
• potting soil
• flowers:  the baskets shown below were made with impatiens and baby's tears.  You can try other flowers, too, and if you want to add some ivy, that works great, too.

Note:  As you can see below, the wire frame baskets used for this tutorial came with a coconut liner.  Remove the coconut liner for this project.  Also, you can see that a cone-shape basket was used.  You can use any shape for this---it's your preference!

The first thing you'll want to do is open up all your bags of sheet moss and submerge them in a bucket full of water.  You want the moss to get soaked thoroughly---it will make your life so much easier as you work on these!  We recommend letting the moss sit in a bucket full of water for a while (at least 10 minutes) before you get started.

Step One:  take a small handful of wet sheet moss and place it in the bottom of your basket.  For the cone shape (below), it was easiest to create a "nest shape" at the base of the basket.  If you have a round basket without a point on the bottom, you'll probably want a little more moss to start with.  

***It is important to note that your wet sheet moss is the "glue" that keeps the basket together.  At any point during the process, if you experience a "hole" or a plant that is trying to fall out, use some wet sheet moss to keep it in place.  The moss will help keep your soil damp after you've completed the project AND the moss will keep soil from running out of the wire basket when you water your completed project.  The moss is the most important part!  :)

Step Two:  On top of your moss "nest," add a plant.  Place the flowers and leaves on the outside of the basket, keeping the roots and soil ball inside of the basket on top of the moss.
Add as many plants as you want, but don't crowd them.  Remember, over time, your plants will grow and fill in, so it's okay to leave spaces without flowers when you are creating your basket.

The outside of your basket will start to look like this:

Step Three:  Add a scoop of soil on top of your plants, filling in the voids of your "moss nest."

Your project will start to look like this after you've added the soil:

Step Four:  Repeat the process.  Add a ring of wet moss to the inside of the basket.  
Add more plants:
Add more soil:
When you finally get to the top, plant a few plants/flowers on the top of the basket:
You can see that the moss is really holding this all together:
Don't worry about mossy spots---eventually, the plants will fill in and this lovely basket will look like all flowers!
Even before they fill out completely, these moss hanging baskets are pretty:

Good luck!  This is a great project for a sunny day.  Don't try this indoors, though, unless you are willing to do a lot of cleaning up afterwards!  It really is a project that is best suited for outside so you can hose down your workspace when you're finished! 

Happy planting!  Send us your pictures if you try this!  :)

P.S.  Water your hanging baskets just like you would any plants:  a hose or watering can.  The moss will keep them intact.